I thought I had already posted, but somehow it's just not here. I hope I didn't post it elsewhere, that'd be embarrassing... oh well...
Anyhow, all good advice already. Be careful with ash, it is what's known as ring porous wood, similar to oak, hickory, osage, etc. The relatively crumbly early wood in the grain will usually never yield a smooth surface, more of a washboard effect of sorts across the grain. Maple, birch, cherry etc. are what are known as ring diffuse, you can see the grain to one degree or another but you will rarely "feel" it. They will usually yield a very smooth surface.
Ash splits at the drop of a hat, the exception being curly ash.
Believe it or not, I have an old CVA that I built from a kit, and the stock supplied in that kit was ash! VERY blond. Hard to work, and fairly early on a chunk split off right in the area of lock plate and bolster.
I have a cherry slab that I've been wanting to make into a stock. Ditto with some hop hornbeam (a.k.a. "ironwood," scientific name ostrya virginiana, a member of the Alder family, which is part of the Birch family, not beech or elm or any other as commonly thought), it has a natural bend to it that has seasoned and stabilized with just the perfect drop and therefore no issues with the grain at the wrist. It is a beautiful creamy color with fine streaks of black, red, purple, green and deep brown running through it. Simply stunning...
Ash is second only to sugar maple around here. Lots of bitternut hickory, some walnut, red oak is scarce, white oak (and other oaks) aren't to be found, cherry is plentiful in certain (upland) areas, elm is generally plentiful, and hop hornbeam is plentiful in certain areas of certain woods. So yes, I figure that stocks would be made from whatever is on hand. If one of my stocks broke today, I'd be using whatever I have on hand, which right this minute would be a choice between cherry, ash, hickory or ironwood. Not to mention the softwoods (wouldn't use), or basswood (TOO plentiful!) or cottonwood, although some of the bigtooth aspens have become QUITE hard with seasoning. Tomorrow, the choices may be completely different. Why wait for someone to make me a "period correct" piece, when I have perfectly fine wood right at hand?
Many a book about the local railroad history has been written, and unfortunately a myth has been propogated by authors ignorant of fact. For instance, they purport that, "Hemlock is very strong and plentiful and highly resistant to decay. The proof of this is the fact that the railroads used them almost exclusively for ties." Well, they got the "plentiful" part right, but anyone that has worked with hemlock knows that it is brittle, not "strong," and it is almost devoid of any rot resistant properties. The railroads used them because they WERE plentiful locally, extremely available, and, above all, the CHEAPEST wood to be found along the local corridors! Remember, they were in business to make money, not to provide rail passengers a lovely view of ties made of wonderful hemlock. 'sides, you can't see the tracks from the train anyhow. Point being that we now, with 20-20 hindsight, attribute things as being period correct while the people of those times were just using what was LOCALLY plentiful, workable, easy to be had quickly, and, again, usually the cheapest of appropriate materials (read "FREE" if from their own woodlot!). A sad legacy of such authors as mentioned above is that many a person that has believed their drivel swears loudly privately and publicly by the same false attributes of hemlock as they, and they will and do use it for all sorts of applications in contact with (wet) ground, believing that "it'll outlast the great-great-grandkids!" Well, no, unfortunately, but the myth probably will...
Ash? Well of course use it! And anything else you'd have a mind to for that matter, as long as it's appropriate to the application. Just know your wood, the purpose you have in mind for it, and the best way(s) to work it.
